Preference based data collection and discounting system

ABSTRACT

The preference based data collection and discounting system and methods herein collect consumer product preferences and track the buying habits of a consumer and reward consumers through discounts. The buying habits may be interrogated by a database of one or more algorithms, which will result in a collated database about consumer buying habits. This metadata may be used by vendors to make marketing assumptions that will influence a consumer&#39;s future purchase decisions. Consumers directly input and update their preferences as well.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/331,422, filed May 3, 2016.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

Traditional analytics systems, such as those created by vendors andproduct payment vendors like MASTERCARD and VISA, are used by companieslike SAS INSTITUTE and GOOGLE to run analytics that determine, throughscenario planning predictions, future consumer buying behavior. Thesesystems are limited to particular types of purchases and rewards. Theinvention relates to marketing analytics and in particular to systemsand methods therefor for capturing consumer purchase histories andpreferences and updating transactions based on the same.

Related Art

Traditional analytics systems, such as those created by vendors andproduct payment vendors like MASTERCARD and VISA, are used by companieslike SAS INSTITUTE and GOOGLE to run analytics that determine, throughscenario planning predictions, future consumer buying behavior. Thesesystems are limited to particular types of purchases and rewards.

From the discussion that follows, it will become apparent that thepresent invention addresses the deficiencies associated with the priorart while providing numerous additional advantages and benefits notcontemplated or possible with prior art constructions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A preference based data collection and discounting system (hereinafter“Spice Chip System”) and methods therefor are disclosed herein. Ingeneral, the Spice Chip System includes systems and methods used totrack the buying habits of a consumer and reward consumers throughdiscounts. The buying habits may be interrogated by a database of one ormore algorithms, which will result in a collated database about consumerbuying habits. This collated data may be used by vendors to makemarketing assumptions that will influence a consumer's future purchasedecisions. Consumers may directly update their preferences if desired.

Various embodiments of a Spice Chip System are disclosed herein. Forinstance, in one exemplary embodiment a preference based data collectionand discounting system is disclosed, comprising one or more terminalsthat receive a list of product preferences from one or more consumersone or more unique identifiers fixed on one or more non-transitorystorage mediums, one or more POS systems comprising a reader thatdetects the unique identifiers on the non-transitory storage mediums,and one or more servers. The unique identifiers are assigned to theconsumers.

The servers receive discount criteria from one or more vendors, receiveand store the list of product preferences from the terminals and receivetransaction information comprising pricing information from the POSsystems. In addition, the servers update the list of product preferencesbased on the transaction information only when the reader detects atleast one of the unique identifiers, and apply the discount criteria tothe product pricing only when the reader detects at least one of theunique identifiers.

It is noted that the non-transitory storage mediums may be microchips,such as those in credit cards, smartphones, wearables and other devices.In addition, the servers may store the transaction information. Theservers may store and also collate the transaction information in someembodiments. The transaction information may include at least one of theunique identifiers when the reader detects at least one of the uniqueidentifiers.

The system may also include a web server that generates a user interfacefor receiving the list of product preferences and transmits the userinterface to the terminal. In addition, the servers may include at leastone database server.

In another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readablemedium is disclosed. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomprises instructions which, when executed by one or more computers,cause the computers to generate one or more unique identifiers for eachof the consumers, receive a list of product preferences from one or moreconsumers, receive discount criteria from one or more vendors andreceive transaction information comprising product pricing informationfrom one or more POS systems.

The POS systems comprise one or more readers that detect the uniqueidentifiers via the non-transitory storage mediums. The uniqueidentifiers are fixed on one or more non-transitory storage mediums.Similar to above, the non-transitory storage mediums may be microchips.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium also cause the computers toupdate the list of product preferences based on the transactioninformation only when the readers detect the unique identifiers, andapply the discount criteria to the product pricing only when the readersdetect the unique identifiers.

The computers may store the transaction information. It is noted thatthe transaction information may include at least one of the uniqueidentifiers. The computers may store and also collate the transactioninformation as well. Also, the computers may generate a user interfacefor receiving the list of product preferences from the consumers.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented method forpreference based data collection and discounting is disclosed,comprising receiving a list of product preferences from one or moreconsumers via one or more communication devices, storing discountcriteria product pricing information on one or more storage devices andreceiving transaction information from one or more POS systems. The POSsystems comprise one or more readers that detect one or more uniqueidentifiers stored on one or more non-transitory storage mediums. Theunique identifiers identify the consumers.

The computer-implemented method also includes, when the readers detectat least one of the unique identifiers, receiving the at least one ofthe unique identifiers, and updating the list of product preferencesbased on the transaction information.

The non-transitory storage mediums may be microchips, such as describedabove. The transaction information may be stored on the storage devices.The transaction information may include the at least one of the uniqueidentifiers when the readers detect the at least one of the uniqueidentifiers. A user interface for receiving the list of productpreferences from the consumers may be generated as well. It is notedthat the discount criteria may be applied to the product pricing whenthe readers detect the at least one of the unique identifiers as well.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will beor will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination ofthe following figures and detailed description. It is intended that allsuch additional systems, methods, features and advantages be includedwithin this description, be within the scope of the invention, and beprotected by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasisinstead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the different views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a mapping of an exemplary SpiceChip System environment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating connections and relationships ofan exemplary Spice Chip System;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary Spice Chip System;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of an exemplary SpiceChip System;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary softwarearchitecture;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary Spice Chip Systemserver;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary consumer preference collection screen;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary data presentation screen; and

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating operation of an exemplary SpiceChip System.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a more thorough description of the present invention.It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that thepresent invention may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known features have not been described in detailso as not to obscure the invention.

Glossary of Terms, Abbreviations and Acronyms

“ADI” stands for “Automatic Data Input” and means a technology wheredata is entered without human intervention.

“Algorithm” means a set of rules to solve a problem written to instructa computer; a program.

“Analytics” means systematic analysis of data or statistics.

“ASIN” stands for Amazon Stock Identification Number.

“BPaas” stands for Business Process as a Service.

“Client” means the group of investors in Spice Chip that constitute theangel round of funding.

“Cloud Computing Technology” means cloud is a metaphor for the Internet.The technology involves sharing information by way of satellitenetworks.

“Contactless Smart Card” means credit card size embedded with circuitsallowing communication with terminals via radio waves. Can store andprocess data.

“Developer” means the person(s) developing the capabilities outlined inthe SRS.

“DW” stands for Data Warehouse.

“EAN” stands for European Article Number.

“ETL” stands for Extract, Transform, Load and means the process toextract data from homogenous or heterogeneous data sources, transformingin proper structure, loading into database for query and analysis.

“GTIN” stands for Global Trade Item Number.

“GUID” stands for Globally Unique Identifier.

“Iaas” stands for Infrastructure as a Service.

“I/O” stands for Input/Output and means directional flow of data to/froma system.

“IoT” stands for Internet of Things and means the collection of physicalobjects, devices, buildings, appliances and other items embedded withelectronics, software, network connectivity enabling these objects toexchange data.

“ISP” stands for Internet Service Provider and means the varioustechnologies offering access to the Internet.

“JAN” stands for Japan Article Number.

“NoSQL” stands for Non-Structured Query Language and means an approachfor accessing non-relational databases.

“OLAP” stands for On-Line Analytic Processing.

“OLTP” stands for On-Line Transaction Processing.

“OS” stands for Operating System and means system software that managesthe hardware and software.

“Product Consumers” means consumers that purchase products fromparticipating vendors.

“Product Vendors” means vendors that participate in Spice Chip byproviding their UPCs for tracking as well as various forms of discountsfor Product Consumers.

“POS” stands for Point of Sale and means a system used in retailer totrack sales and inventory of products.

“RAC” stands for Real Application Cluster and means a type ofinstallation of multiple database instances and servers one a singlephysical server.

“RealData” means Spice Chip's technology for source data includingtechnology for acquiring data directly from the source, namely theconsumer, at the time of purchase.

“RF” stands for Radio Frequency and means electrical oscillations ofwave frequencies, such as in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz. A frequencywithin range where radio waves are transmitted.

“RFID” stands for Radio Frequency identification and means a wirelesssystem of tags and readers to automatically identify and track tagsattached to objects.

“RTM” stands for Requirements Traceability Matrix and means a documentthat captures all requirements and traces progress over the lifecycle ofthe development project.

“SAN” stands for Storage Area Network.

“SDK” stands for Software Development Kit and means an applicationprogramming interface to allow two systems to interact and exchangedata.

“SDLC” stands for Software Development Life Cycle and means a projectmanagement concept describing stages of a system's development.

“SQL” stands for Structured Query Language and means programminglanguage for accessing relational databases.

“SRS” stands for System Requirements Specifications.

“UPC” stands for Universal Product Code.

In general, a Spice Chip System collects and provides consumer datawhich comes directly from the source, namely consumers, for trackingconsumer buying behavior and habits via a RealData component. TheRealData component does not require a specific form of payment such as aspecific credit card. Instead, a RealData database includes a widervariety of consumer buying experiences or histories regardless of methodof payment/acquisition. The consumer simply uses their unique identifierto identify themselves anytime a product is acquired. In addition,consumers have the ability to modify their profile preferences forproduct offerings. Vendors may be provided with information that isbased on consumer perceptions in real time or near real time.

Traditional analytics systems, such as those created by vendors andproduct payment vendors like MASTERCARD and VISA, are used by companieslike SAS INSTITUTE and GOOGLE to run analytics that determine, throughscenario planning predictions, future consumer buying behavior. Incontrast, the Real Data approach gives a richer gauge of predictingconsumer behavior because its data is not limited to credit card typepurchases. For example, if a consumer acquires a JOHN DEERE tractorthrough an arrangement with another consumer, the acquiring consumer canuse a Spice Chip System to record the transaction through manual entryto their profile by adding JOHN DEERE to their personal list of productpreferences (hereinafter “Spice Rack”). This approach will giveconsumers first-hand control over their buying behavior profiles.

Buying habits collected by a Spice Chip System may be interrogated byone or more algorithms, which will result in a collated database aboutconsumer buying habits. This collated database may be used by vendors tomake marketing assumptions that will influence a consumer's futurepurchase decisions. An exemplary Spice Chip System environment isillustrated in FIG. 1.

Users of a Spice Chip System may be consumers, vendors or others. Ingeneral, a consumer would subscribe to the Spice Chip System as aservice thereby allowing the service to capture their consumptionhabits. In general, a vendor (e.g., merchant, manufacturer, retailer,service provider) would subscribe to the Spice Chip System service inorder to access the collated database about consumers through the use ofanalytic statements or queries. A vendor may provide discounts andrelated forms of incentive to motivate consumers for continued, repeatbusiness. A vendor may also be part of a global partner alliance forvendor point of sale (POS) acceptance of a Spice Chip System card.

In one or more embodiments, a Spice Chip System comprises acollaboration of relational databases that consists of Big Data backends connected to web enabled front ends. A Big Data back end may employmultiple parallel relational or other databases housed on one or morerespective database servers. Some exemplary database servers include thefollowing:

-   -   Java database server    -   SQL database servers of “Big Data” about consumer information    -   SQL database server for meta information about consumers    -   Database server for information about vendors    -   Database server for information about retailer POS    -   Database server for automatic data input (AD1) technology    -   Database servers (respective) for ETL link with 1) retailer POS        systems and 2) data warehouse    -   NoSQL servers for data science and analytics

In addition to a relational and non-relational database environment thatwill include capability for Big Data analytics, various hardware will beincorporated for use as data entry points using ADI technology, such asin the following ways:

1. The Spice Chip System will include a digital signature or otheridentifier to uniquely identify consumers. For instance, a digital chipembedded into a credit card (such as a contactless smart card) asmartphone or wearable, may store the unique identifier, which may becommunicated via radio frequencies. A unique identifier may also oralternatively be stored in a barcode or other non-transitory storagemedium, aside from electromagnetic signals or carrier waves, applied tocredit cards, wearables, or other articles carried by consumers. Theunique identifier may be read by an associated reader, such as a cardreader, in the case of a digital chip, or a barcode reader, in the caseof a barcode.

2. Output hardware for data will typically comprise I/O components suchas card readers, retailer POS interfaces, vendor systems interfaces andreporting systems. Some examples of reporting systems include TABLEAUfor dashboard creation, SAS for canned and custom report requests.

In addition to ADI enabled data input, user-enabled or manual input mayoccur through a user interface, such as a web or other interface, thatallows consumers to provide profile information describing theirpreferences.

Hardware components of a Spice Chip System may be interconnected invarious ways. For example, the hardware components may be interconnectedvia one or more wired or wireless networks, such as one or more LANs,WANs, the Internet, or various subsets thereof. A Spice Chip System mayutilize cloud services. For example, a database server infrastructuremay utilize different cloud offerings of IaaS, PaaS, SaaS or BPaaS.

Connections and relationships between a Spice Chip System and externaldevices will now be described with regard to FIG. 2. As can be seen, aconsumer may initiate a relationship by requesting a unique identifierfor consumer use during sales transactions. When transactioninformation, such as a purchase transaction, is received by the SpiceChip System, established vendor criteria are applied to determine anappropriate discount. The Spice Chip System then passes the discountprovided by the vendor to the consumer by updating the sales transactionto reflect the discount.

As will be described further below, the core functionality of a SpiceChip System will typically be driven by the relationship with vendorsand retailers. In general, vendors supply UPCs and discount criteria andpermit the Spice Chip System to return the appropriate manufacturerdiscount at a POS. Vendors allow interrogation of sales transactions bythe Spice Chip System in order to capture UPC information and updatetransactions to provide relevant discounts. Of course, this relationshipalso includes consumer participation.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a Spice Chip System 304 in anexemplary environment of use. In one or more embodiments, a Spice ChipSystem 304 may comprise one or more servers 308, 312, 316 interconnectedwith one or more terminals 320, via one or more communication links,networks or both. As stated above, communication may occur throughvarious networks, including WANs, LANs and the Internet. The elements ofa Spice Chip System 304 may communicate via wired communication links,wireless communication links or both. One or more switches 336 or othernetwork equipment may be used to facilitate communication.

Various servers 308, 312, 316 may be part of a Spice Chip System 304.For example, a Spice Chip System 304 may include one or more databaseservers 308 that store one or more types of information. The databaseservers 308 may have relational or non-relational databases. As shown inFIG. 3, one or more database servers 308 may store consumer information,vendor information, metadata for the same or various subsets thereof.

Product information, POS information, and transaction information mayalso be stored on a database server 308. It is noted that suchinformation may be received from a third party system. To illustrate,product information may be received or retrieved from a third party UPCserver 340 or the like. For example, one or more product UPCs of avendor may be received from a vendor's UPC server 340 by a databaseserver 308. Likewise, purchase or other transaction information, POSinformation or both may be received or retrieved from a third party POSsystem 344 or the like by a database server 308. Results from one ormore analytic statements or queries may be stored in some embodiments.It is contemplated that such mining data may be stored in a databaseserver 308 as well.

Information used by a Spice Chip System may comprise data formatted inspecific ways. For example, there may be a distinction between datafiles, such as database files containing binary data, image data, anddatabase information and text files, which contain ASCII (AmericanStandard Code for Information Interchange) data. Other files within adatabase may include index files, data dictionaries, and files thatstore administrative information.

Table 1 provides exemplary definitions for data, such as that describedabove, that may be used by a Spice Chip System 304, such as via one ormore database servers 308.

TABLE 1 DATA DEFINITIONS Data Entity Elements Definition Brand Brand IDData about a report. Information Brand Name Brand Product Brand CategoryBrand Vendor Category Category ID Data about product InformationCategory Description categories. Consumer Unique Identifier Data about aconsumer. Information Spice Chip ID First Name Last Name Screen NameEmail Address Password Validation Code Activation Status PhoneMembership Date Billing Address Billing City Billing State BillingCountry Billing Postal Code Consumer Link to Product UPC Preferredproducts with Spice Rack Product Names that are consumer rankings ofsuch lookups from a products products. database Ranking Contact UsContact Number Data for a “Contact Us” Information Contact First Namemessage. Contact Last Name Contact Email Contact Phone Contact AddressContact City Contact State Contact Postal Code Contact Country IsContact a Vendor? Message Country Country Information Data about acountry. Information Country Code Country Code Name Membership UniqueIdentifier Data about a membership. Information Customer ID CustomerFirst Name Customer Las Name Customer Email Membership Date MetadataUnique Key Data and analytics relating Consumer Spice Chip to aconsumer's Spice Rack. Unique Identifier Consumer Unique Identifier UPCProduct Vendor Multiplier Field LONG Field Payment Payment Type ID Dataabout a payment. Information Customer ID Vendor ID Customer MembershipDate Vendor Membership Date Payment Type Checking Account Bank NameCheck Routing Number Check No. Check Account Holder Credit Card NameCredit Card Number Credit Card SSID Product Vendor Product GTIN Dataabout a product. Information (UPC, EAN, JAN or ISBN) Vendor ID ProductCategory Product Discount Brand Name Product Description Product ImageProduct Keywords POS Unique Key Data about a POS Information RetailerName Register Number Address Contact Name Contact Title Contact PhoneContact Email Product Rank Product Rank ID Data about a product rank.Information Customer ID Vendor ID Vendor Product ID Product Spice RackRank Retailer ID Purchase Transaction ID Report Report ID Data about areport. Information Report Description Report Image Retailer Retailer IDData about a retailer. Information Company Name Company Address CompanyCity Company State Company Country Company Postal Code Contact FirstName Contact Last Name Contact Phone Contact Email Company Website URLRetailer Membership Date Retailer POS ID Retailer POS Location ID POSLocation Description State Code Country Code Spice Chip UniqueIdentifier Unique Identifier for Reader ID Customer Name consumerprovided by Issue Date reader system to create a physical card. StateState ID Data about a state. Information Postal State Code State CodeName Transaction Purchase Transaction ID Transaction representingInformation Retailer POS ID a consumer buying Unique Identifierexperience or purchase. Retailer ID Retailer POS Location ID Vendor IDVendor Product ID Discount Calculation Vendor Vendor ID Data about avendor. Information Company Name Company Address Company City CompanyState Company Country Company Postal Code Contact First Name ContactLast Name Contact Phone Contact Email Vendor Password Vendor ValidationVendor Activation Vendor Membership Date Vendor Membership Type VendorPayment Type

One or more storage devices for storing information will typically bepart of a Spice Chip System as well. A storage device may storeinformation magnetically, optically, on solid state media or by otherdata storage technologies now known or later developed. For example, astorage device may be a flash, optical or magnetic drive. As can beseen, storage devices may be provided in a storage array 328 accessibleto one or more servers 308, 312, 316. Alternatively or in addition,storage devices may be integrated into one or more servers 308, 312,316.

A Spice Chip System 304 may also include one or more admin servers 316.Typically, an admin server 316 will be used to manage, administrate orsetup a Spice Chip System 304. This includes creating and maintaininguser accounts (e.g., vendor and consumer accounts), managing user accessand managing and maintaining the Spice Chip System 304. Admin servers316 will typically be in communication with one or more database servers308 to modify associated records stored thereon.

A Spice Chip System 304 may also include interface servers, such as webservers 312, that provide user interfaces to users. In general, a webserver 312 or other interface server will access information stored inone or more database servers 308, format the information, and providethe formatted information to a user in a user interface. It is notedthat a web server 312 or other interface server may also provideinformation without a user interface. For example, a data stream may beprovided that can be placed in a user interface generated by anotherdevice. A load distribution server 324 may be provided to distributeloads across one or more web servers 312 or other interface servers.

One or more terminals 320 may be used by users to access a Spice ChipSystem 304. A terminal 320 may be a kiosk, computer, smartphone, tabletor other computing device. Consumers, vendors and other users may accessand interact with a Spice Chip System 304 via a terminal 320. Forexample, consumers may subscribe to a Spice Chip System 304, input theirpreferences and update their accounts via a terminal 320, while vendorsmay subscribe to a Spice Chip System 304 and update their accounts via aterminal. One or more output devices, such as printers 348 may beattached to a terminal 320. A terminal 320 may be used to display a userinterface for users, such as via a screen or other display device.

A reader device 332, such as a card reader or barcode reader, may beprovided to read a Spice Chip System's unique identifiers. Such uniqueidentifiers may be stored on a credit card, wearable or other article.In operation, the reader device 332 may be used to identify a consumerat a terminal 320. A reader device 332 may read a unique identifier withor without physical contact with a credit card, wearable or otherarticle. It is noted that a reader device 332 may be at a POS system 344to identify consumers as well. It is contemplated that, in someembodiments, a reader device 332 may comprise a keypad or other inputdevice to allow a unique identifier to be inputted manually.

It is contemplated that a single or reduced number of servers may beused to provide the services of multiple distinct servers. For example,the same server may be a database server 308 and an interface server312, among other things. In other words, it is possible for a Spice ChipSystem 304 to be implemented by a single server or by multiple servers.

Operation of a Spice Chip System 304 will now be described with regardto the flow diagram of FIG. 4. In general, when a consumer makes apurchase, the corresponding purchase transaction contains informationabout the vendor and product UPCs. When the consumer presents theirunique identifier to a vendor, the purchase transaction information ispassed to the Spice Chip System and the information is associated withthe consumer. The Spice Chip System may perform analytics that processthe consumer and the purchase transaction information based on criteriapreviously provided by a vendor. The analytics issue a discount which ispassed to the vendor POS to update the purchase transaction.

Referring to FIG. 4, at a step 404 a consumer account may be created,such as when a consumer signs up or subscribes to the Spice Chip System.Consumer information may be received at this time. In addition, a uniqueidentifier, which uniquely identifies the consumer, is generated. Thisunique identifier may be provided to the consumer at a step 408. Thismay occur in various ways. For example, a consumer may be presented withtheir unique identifier on a terminal, given a credit or other carddigitally or otherwise physically storing or bearing the identifier,given a wearable or other article storing or bearing the identifier.

At a step 412, consumer preferences, including product rank information,may be received. For example, product or service preferences, such asproduct type, brand or other product characteristic preferences may bereceived from the consumer. As illustrated by the arrow from step 412 tostep 404, consumer preferences may be repeatedly updated as desired by aconsumer. The Spice Chip System captures up to date information onconsumer preferences in this manner, permitting the Spice Chip System toprovide more desirable discounts (i.e., discounts more likely to berelevant) to a consumer. In addition, uninteresting discounts can thenbe avoided.

It is noted that a consumer's personal Spice Rack and updates theretomay be received at step 412 as well. For example, products may be addedor removed from a Spice Rack by a consumer at step 412. This may alsoautomatically update consumer preferences based on one or morecharacteristics of the products added or removed. The consumerinformation received at steps 404 through 412 may be received by theSpice Chip System, and stored in one or more database servers.

An independent process may take place with regard to vendors. As shownin FIG. 4 for example, vendor account creation, receipt of productinformation, including UPCs and discount criteria, may respectivelyoccur at steps 416 and 420 independent of steps 404 through 412. In thismanner, vendor information and product information can be independentlyestablished. POS information, including locations and IDs for a vendor'sPOS systems, may also be received by the Spice Chip System at step 416during account creation. It is noted that the various vendor informationmay be updated as well.

At a step 424, a consumer transaction begins. Typically, this will be apurchase transaction. Transaction data may be accessed by a Spice ChipSystem through an established ETL pipe from a POS system, such as in thefollowing exemplary sequence of events for each product type identifiedin a transaction:

1) When a unique identifier, such as a bar code or digital chip, isscanned at POS system's reader device, this triggers the POS system tocontact the Spice Chip System;

2) Read the transaction information, including UPCs, from the POS systemand write to a consumer database initiating creation of record;

3) Read the unique identifier and link the same to the consumer databaserecord;

4) Access the consumer's Spice Rack and read all UPCs of the same vendorthen write these fields to a customer metadata record LONG field, createa stored field for calculating a discount that is created for eachoccurrence of the vendor in the consumer's Spice Rack (using amultiplier of 1 as default);

5) If new, add the UPC to the consumer's Spice Rack;

6) Retrieve the vendor discount from a product database;

7) If the consumer has other UPCs from the vendor in their Spice Rack,update the stored multiplier to reflect the same; and

8) Perform calculation, such as in a temporary field, where an amount isretrieved from the transaction information (from the POS system) andmultiplied by the result of stored multiplier field from the consumermetadata database. Then the transaction amount is updated to reflectdiscount.

As shown in FIG. 4, at a decision step 428, if a unique identifier ispresent (i.e., the consumer subscribes to the Spice Chip System), thesame may be received by the Spice Chip System at a step 432. If a uniqueidentifier is not present at decision step 428, the transaction mayproceed to completion at a step 444. Typically, this means the purchaseis completed by the POS system receiving payment from the consumer.

Referring back to step 432, after a unique identifier is received atstep 432, discount criteria may be received for the particular consumeridentified by the unique identifier, such to take into account theconsumer's Spice Rack for discounting purposes, such as described above.At a step 436, the discount criteria may be applied resulting in adiscount amount. The discount criteria will typically be provided from avendor, such as at step 420 described above. For example, discountcriteria may be included in product information provided by a vendor.Discount criteria may define an absolute or percentage discount. It isnoted that discounts may be provided at other times as well, as will bedescribed with regard to FIG. 9 below.

At a step 440, the transaction may be updated based on the discountcriteria to generate a discounted amount for one or more products in thetransaction. Thereafter, the transaction may be completed at a step 444,such as by the consumer paying a discounted amount for one or moreproducts in the transaction. Transaction information describing and usedduring the transaction may be stored thereafter.

A wide variety of transactions may be handled by a Spice Chip System.This is because a unique identifier can be presented during a widevariety of purchases, including online, brick and mortar, telephone,credit card, and automatic payment purchases. In some cases, a uniqueidentifier may be presented or read electronically, such as via a cardor barcode reader. Alternatively, a unique identifier may be manuallypresented such as audibly to a vendor via a telephone purchasetransaction.

As disclosed above, a Spice Chip System also updates consumerinformation when a transaction is made with a unique identifier. Thisupdates consumer preferences based on the products being purchased, suchas to provide discounts for similar, related or complementary products.To avoid adversely affecting consumer information and preferences, theSpice Chip System allows a consumer to selectively opt-in or opt-out.For example, if a consumer is purchasing a gift for someone else theconsumer may choose to forego providing their unique identifier, andthereby avoid altering their metadata and preferences. It iscontemplated that a consumer may communicate an opt-out signal or flagalong with their unique identifier in some embodiments. This is topermit a consumer to receive any applicable discount without alteringtheir preferences.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary software architecture for a Spice ChipSystem. As can be seen, the overall software architecture may includeone or more databases, logs, data analytics, data mining, data discoverymodules. In addition, one or more data migration modules for extracting,transforming and loading information from one database (or data source)to another may also be included. The various modules of the Spice ChipSystem's software will be fixed on a non-transitory storage medium andexecuted by one or more processors, such as those of one or moreservers. The non-transitory storage medium herein does not includecarrier waves and electronic signals transmitted via wired or wirelesscommunication links.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary server 620 of a Spice Chip System. Aserver 620 may be a computer in one or more embodiments. As can be seen,a server 620 may comprise one or more processors 604, memory devices 616and communication devices 612. In addition, a server 308 may include aninternal storage device 328 or be connected to an external storagedevice or array, such as shown in FIG. 3.

In one or more embodiments, a processor 604 may execute machine readablecode fixed on a non-transitory storage medium to provide thefunctionality disclosed herein. The machine-readable code will compriseinstructions in one or more embodiments, and may utilize one or morememory devices 616, storage devices 328, communication devices 612 orvarious subsets thereof during operation.

A storage device 328 may be a flash, optical or magnetic drive in one ormore embodiments. A memory device 616 may be RAM in one or moreembodiments. A communication device 612 may be a network interface orother communication device capable of communicating data via one or morewired or wireless communication links.

As can be seen, a communication device 612 may be used to communicatewith one or more database servers 308, web servers 312, admin servers316, terminals 320 or various subsets thereof. It is noted that adatabase server 308, web server 312, admin server 316 or other servermay have a hardware configuration as shown in the exemplary server 620of FIG. 6.

In operation, and with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6, a server 620 maycreate a consumer account and unique identifier at step 404 by storingconsumer information on a storage device 328, such as via a databaseserver 308. The consumer information may be received from a consumer viaa terminal 320 in one or more embodiments. A processor 604, randomnumber generator or both may be used to generate a unique identifier. Itis contemplated a unique identifier may be a GUID for example.

At step 408, a communication device 612 may transmit the uniqueidentifier to the consumer, such as to the user's terminal 320. Once aconsumer account is created, and as desired thereafter, a consumer mayinput and update their Spice Rack, such as shown in step 412. At step424 a consumer transaction may be initiated, such as at a POS system 344of a vendor or a terminal 320.

At decision step 428, it is determined whether the consumer has a uniqueidentifier. For example, a consumer may insert a card or other itembearing their unique identifier, input their unique identifier, orotherwise provide their unique identifier to a reader 332. If a uniqueidentifier is detected, the same may be transmitted from the reader 332to a server 620, which receives the same at step 432. It is noted that aPOS system 344 or terminal 320 may first receive the unique identifierfrom a reader 332 and forward the same to the server's communicationdevice 312.

Transaction information, describing the consumer transaction, may alsobe received at the server 620, via its communication device 312. Thetransaction information may be transmitted to the server 620 from thePOS system 344 or terminal 320, and may be stored at a storage device328 or database server 308. At a step 436, discount criteria may beapplied to the transaction by the server 620. This may occur byretrieving the discount criteria for the consumer identified by theunique identifier from a storage device 328 or database server 308.

At step 440, the server 620 may update the transaction by transmittingthe discounted pricing for the transaction to the POS system 344 orterminal 320 thereby updating the price to be paid by the consumer tocomplete the transaction. At step 444, the server 620 may receive anotification from the POS system 344 or terminal 320 indicating thetransaction has completed. The server 620 may then store flag or thelike with the transaction information to indicate the transaction hascompleted. Alternatively, it is contemplated that transactioninformation will not be stored unless and until the transaction hascompleted.

With regard to vendors, at step 416, a server 620 may receive vendorinformation from a POS system or terminal 320 and store the same at astorage device 328 or database server 308 to create a vendor account.Product information, which may include product UPCs and discountcriteria, may be received from a vendor's POS system 344 or terminal 320at step 420. This information may be received via a communication device612 of the server.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary preferences screen 704 that may be usedby a consumer to input and update their Spice Rack. This screen 704 maybe generated by a server, such as a web server, and transmitted to aterminal for presentation to a consumer in one or more embodiments. Thepreferences screen 704 may be presented via a display 720 of a terminalor other device. As can be seen, a consumer may provide a ranking ofpreferences for product categories, products themselves and brands.

A consumer may engage or select drop down lists 708, 712, 716, buttonsor other user interface controls to reveal a list of selectable optionsfor each type. In some embodiments, a consumer may request an option beadded, if the desired selection is not in a provided list. For example,a consumer may make a request to add an option via an input form or viaa chat or messaging element of the Spice Chip System.

As can be seen, a consumer may identify and rank their preferences foreach type of information via a preferences screen 704. It iscontemplated that additional preference types besides the category,product and brand types shown in FIG. 7 may be provided. Once entry orupdating of their Spice Rack, the same may be stored by engaging abutton 724 or other control to effectuate the same. As shown in FIG. 7,an “Update Rankings” button 724 is provided to initiate the same. Oncestored or updated, the Spice Rack may be used during subsequentapplication of discount criteria for the consumer.

FIG. 8 illustrates exemplary transaction information that may beprovided to vendors by a Spice Chip System. As can be seen, consumers'preferences, demographics and purchase information may be provided. Itis noted that a vendor may run various predefined queries or their ownqueries or comparisons through a Spice Chip System to find theinformation they desire. Queries or comparisons may be executed via aterminal in communication with a Spice Chip System. A Spice Chip Systemmay require a fee for some or all queries or comparisons.

Operation of an exemplary Spice Chip System while provisioning discountswill now be described with regard to the flow diagram FIG. 9. As can beseen, consumer preferences may be received from consumers at a step 904,while discount criteria may be received from vendors at a step 908. Inone or more embodiments, consumer preferences and discount criteria maybe received by a communication device of a Spice Chip System server,such as described above. The consumer preferences and discount criteriamay be stored on a database server or other storage device.

At a step 912 consumer preferences may be applied to determine whichdiscount criteria are desired by a consumer. Once relevant discounts areidentified, the same may be transmitted by a server to the consumer at astep 916. It is contemplated that transmission may occur in variousways. For instance, discounts may be emailed or otherwise transmitted toconsumers at predefined times. Alternatively or in addition, discountsmay be presented when a consumer logs in to the Spice Chip System, suchas via a terminal. Discounts may also be presented during transactionsvia a POS system.

The following describes exemplary Spice Chip System's processrequirements, which relate the entities and attributes from the datarequirements to the users' needs. The decomposition of the broaderconcept of the functionality is stated in terms of layers of increasingdetail. Table 2 outlines exemplary functional process requirements.

TABLE 2 FUNCTIONAL PROCESS REQUIREMENTS No. Requirement Description 1Functional Process Requirements 2 Customer Acquisition Process 3 SpiceChip Smart Card Creation Process 4 Customer Profile Creation and UpdateProcess 5 Web Interface for Customer and Vendor Access Creation Process6 UPC Upload Process 7 Vendor Discount Criteria Creation Process 8Retailer Configuration Process 9 Transaction Access and Update Process10 Algorithm Process 11 Business Rules 12 Analytics Request Process 13SQL Query Process 14 Standard and Custom Report Request Process

Table 3 lists the steps of an exemplary consumer acquisition process.

TABLE 3 CUSTOMER ACQUISITION PROCESS REQUIREMENTS No. RequirementDescription 1 Customer Acquisition Process The system provides consumeracquisition capability. The system allows consumers to request a SpiceChip smart card. 2 Spice Chip Smart Card Creation Process The systemprovides a method of providing a unique identifier to users. The systemprovides a method for creating Spice Chip smart cards 3 Customer ProfileCreation and Update Process The system captures consumer data entry inprofile fields. The system allows consumers to update data in profilefields. 4 Web Interface for Customer and Vendor Access Creation ProcessThe system provides a web interface for consumer and vendor interaction.The system provides consumers access to create and update their ownprofiles. The system provides vendors web access to create and updatetheir company profile. The system provides vendors web access to runanalytics on consumer metadata.

Table 4 lists the steps of an exemplary vendor configuration process.

TABLE 4 VENDOR CONFIGURATION PROCESS REQUIREMENTS No. RequirementDescription 1 Vendor Acquisition Process The system provides capabilityfor entering vendor information. 2 Vendor UPC Upload Process The systemprovides capability for importing vendor UPCs. 3 Vendor DiscountCriteria Process The system provides a process for creating discountcriteria. The system provides a process for maintaining vendordiscounts.

Table 5 lists the steps of an exemplary vendor configuration process forPOS.

TABLE 5 VENDOR POS CONFIGURATION PROCESS REQUIREMENTS No. RequirementDescription 1 Vendor Configuration Process The system providescapability for entering vendor information. 2 Transaction Access andUpdate Process The system provides capability for accessing vendor POStransactions The system provides a process for updating POS transactionswith discounts

Table 6 lists the steps of an exemplary algorithm process.

TABLE 6 ALGORITHM PROCESS REQUIREMENTS No. Requirement Description 1Algorithm Process The system provides algorithms. 2 Rules The systemprovides algorithms for processing consumer metadata. The systemprovides algorithms for processing vendor product data. The systemprovides algorithms for processing purchase transactions. The systemprovides algorithms for transferring data.

Table 7 lists the steps of an exemplary vendor configuration process.

TABLE 7 ANALYTICS REQUEST PROCESS REQUIREMENTS No. RequirementDescription 1 Analytics Request Process The system provides analyticsrequest capability. 2 SQL Query Process The system provides capabilityfor querying consumer metadata. 3 Standard and Custom Report RequestProcess The system provides capability for standard and custom reportingof consumer metadata.

The following describes exemplary interface requirements for interactingwith users (e.g., consumers and vendors), such as through hardware,software and communication. Hardware, software and communication involvepoints where two or more systems meet and interact, and they are objectswhose interaction with the outside world is defined by methods. Therespective method forms the object's interface with the outside world. Asimple example is a user requesting a subscription to a Spice ChipSystem where the user interfaces with the object, a database, throughweb interfaces in order to interact with the Spice Chip System.

Table 8 lists some exemplary interaction points and interfaces betweenthe user and the system. As can be seen, one or more interfaces may beused depending on the desired interaction.

TABLE 8 USER INTERFACES Description Interface 1 Interface 2 CustomerRequest to Subscribe Web Page Vendor Information Data Entry DatabaseApplication Vendor UPC Import Database Migration Tool POS Price ChangeSDK Vendor Request for Web Page SQL Queries Analytics/Reports

Table 9 lists exemplary requirements for software interfaces, consistingof commands, codes, and messages that enable different applications tocommunicate with each other.

TABLE 9 SOFTWARE INTERFACES Interface Interface Interface ApplicationOwner 1 2 3 Customer Spice Chip Web Page Consumer ISP SubscriptionSystem Database Smart Card Spice Chip Smart Card Consumer CreationSystem Software Database Customer Spice Chip Web Page Consumer ISPProfile Update System Database Vendor Spice Chip Web Page Vendor ISPInformation System Database Data Entry Vendor UPC Vendor Data Migra-Vendor ISP Import/Update tion Tool Database POS Price Retailer DataMigra- Retailer ISP Change Association tion Tool Database Vendor Re-Spice Chip Visualiza- Data ISP quest for System or tion Soft- WarehouseAnalytics/ Third Party ware (e.g., Software Reports Partner TABLEAU)

While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many moreembodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scopeof this invention. In addition, the various features, elements, andembodiments described herein may be claimed or combined in anycombination or arrangement.

What is claimed is:
 1. A preference based data collection anddiscounting system comprising: one or more terminals that receive a listof product preferences from one or more consumers; one or more uniqueidentifiers fixed on one or more non-transitory storage mediums, the oneor more unique identifiers assigned to the one or more consumers; one ormore POS systems comprising a reader that detects the one or more uniqueidentifiers on the one or more non-transitory storage mediums; and oneor more servers that: receive discount criteria from one or morevendors; receive and store the list of product preferences from the oneor more terminals; receive transaction information comprising pricinginformation from the one or more POS systems; update the list of productpreferences based on the transaction information only when the readerdetects at least one of the one or more unique identifiers; and applythe discount criteria to the product pricing only when the readerdetects at least one of the one or more unique identifiers.
 2. Thepreference based data collection and discounting system of claim 1,wherein the one or more non-transitory storage mediums are microchips.3. The preference based data collection and discounting system of claim1, wherein the one or more servers store the transaction information. 4.The preference based data collection and discounting system of claim 1,wherein the one or more servers store and collate the transactioninformation.
 5. The preference based data collection and discountingsystem of claim 1, wherein the transaction information includes at leastone of the one or more unique identifiers only when the reader detectsat least one of the one or more unique identifiers.
 6. The preferencebased data collection and discounting system of claim 1 furthercomprising a web server that generates a user interface for receivingthe list of product preferences and transmits the user interface to theterminal.
 7. The preference based data collection and discounting systemof claim 1, wherein the one or more servers include at least onedatabase server.
 8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprisinginstructions which, when executed by one or more computers, cause theone or more computers to: generate one or more unique identifiers forone or more consumers, the one or more unique identifiers fixed on oneor more non-transitory storage mediums; receive a list of productpreferences from the one or more consumers; receive discount criteriafrom one or more vendors; receive transaction information from one ormore POS systems, wherein the one or more POS systems comprise one ormore readers that detect the one or more unique identifiers fixed on theone or more non-transitory storage mediums; update the list of productpreferences based on the transaction information only when the one ormore readers detect the one or more unique identifiers; and apply thediscount criteria to the product pricing only when the one or morereaders detect the one or more unique identifiers.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more computersreceive and store vendor information from the one or more vendors. 10.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the oneor more non-transitory storage mediums are microchips.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one ormore computers store the transaction information.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more computersstore and collate the transaction information.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the transaction informationincludes at least one of the one or more unique identifiers only whenthe one or more readers detect the one or more unique identifiers. 14.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the oneor more computers generate a user interface for receiving the list ofproduct preferences from the one or more consumers.
 15. Acomputer-implemented method for preference based data collection anddiscounting comprising: receiving a list of product preferences from oneor more consumers via one or more communication devices; storingdiscount criteria product pricing information on one or more storagedevices; receiving transaction information from one or more POS systems,the one or more POS systems comprising one or more readers that detectone or more unique identifiers stored on one or more non-transitorystorage mediums, the one or more unique identifiers identifying the oneor more consumers; and when the one or more readers detect the one ormore unique identifiers, receiving the one or more unique identifiers,and updating the list of product preferences based on the transactioninformation.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, whereinthe one or more non-transitory storage mediums are microchips.
 17. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 15 further comprising storing thetransaction information on the one or more storage devices.
 18. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the transactioninformation includes the at least one of the one or more uniqueidentifiers when the one or more readers detect the one or more uniqueidentifiers.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 furthercomprising generating a user interface for receiving the list of productpreferences from the one or more consumers.
 20. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 15 further comprising applying the discount criteria tothe product pricing when the one or more readers detect the at least oneof the one or more unique identifiers.